EUGENE -- The eight-week stretch between national signing day and the beginning of spring practices might seem unremarkable in the college football calendar, yet Oregon coach Mark Helfrich doesn't hesitate to call it "always a great time of year."

"You're in fix-it mode," he said. "There’s that anticipation to get back out on the field with the guys and that’s always fun."

Oregon is less than a month from the first of its 15 allowed spring practices on April 1, the first date the Ducks officially turn the page from a season that was celebrated as their sixth straight with at least 10 victories yet disappointed by snapping a four-game Bowl Championship Series streak.

"Fix-it" mode means exactly that; Oregon's coaches have spent their offseason saying fans should expect tweaks but no major overhauls to their spread offense or 3-4 defense during spring drills that conclude with the May 3 spring game. It is tied with Oregon State for the latest spring games in the Pac-12.

But that doesn't mean Oregon isn't searching for improvements, and for those, fixing Oregon's flaws from 2013 began in the weight room for the players and the video study for coaches.

"We’re trying to obviously get a little bigger, a little more physical, all those things and with that there’s an element of risk but we’re relatively healthy for this time of year coming out of the phase of strength training and building," Helfrich said. "You watch your entire offseason the offense and defense and special teams … it's just the little tiny fraction that would have been the difference in a successful play.

"We have a ton of them, whether it was penalties or one-man breakdowns that could have been huge -- either defensive stops for us or touchdown-type of plays offensively. Those are the ones that are the most frustrating because they’re the most easily identifiable and, ‘Why didn’t we just do this?' We need to coach that better. You’re kind of excited to get out there for that, you have all this stuff that you think will make you better."

The Ducks' starting offense should require only a fine-tuning after returning every starter but graduated receiver Josh Huff from the Alamo Bowl victory against Texas. On defense, UO was depleted by seven departures from the line and secondary and will feature new roles for defensive coordinator Don Pellum and outside linebackers coach Erik Chinander.

Helfrich was pessimistic about another Duck taking on a new role, too, but also left open the possibility.

Junior defensive lineman Arik Armstead will be eligible for the NFL draft after next season, but at 6-foot-8, with a former basketball player's nimble footwork and a long reach, some believe his best position is offensive tackle.

He was projected as one of the nation's best at that position as a high school recruit, and an NFL.com article in January stated he was "unlikely to be selected as early" if he remained on defense. He had 15 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss last season.

"I would never say never, believe me (offensive line coach) Steve Greatwood is trying to get the recruiter of the year award trying to work Arik every day," Helfrich said. "He’s definitely a guy who has a prototype of that position but he’s also a guy who at times has been dominant defensively. He’s got to get better at what he’s doing but we’ll see where that takes him."